1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system for soldering and, more specifically, to a gas flow distribution system for a molten solder dispensing process.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to use a molten solder dispensing process for dispensing beads of molten solder onto electronic circuit board components to solder leads of the components to conductive surfaces of a circuit board. It is also known to provide a system for the molten solder dispensing process. This system typically includes a solder dispensing head having a solder feed orifice and an interior bore sized to receive an elongated heat source for contacting solid solder fed within the interior bore through the solder feed orifice. The interior bore of the solder dispensing head also includes a solder reservoir for molten solder and a tip opening for depositing the molten solder onto the components and circuit board. The solder dispensing head also includes a bleed gas port which communicates with the interior bore and is connected to a source of an inert gas such as nitrogen to exclude oxygen in the surrounding air from entering the tip opening of the solder dispensing head and oxidizing the molten solder.
One disadvantage of the above solder dispensing head is that it applies solder drops on only one lead at a time. Another disadvantage is that the solder dispensing head may use solder fluxes which is undesirable. Yet another disadvantage is that the solder dispensing head uses discrete nozzles to introduce the nitrogen. A further disadvantage is that the nitrogen is cold and serves to cool the solder dispensing head which is undesired